MEDTRONIC CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Minneapolis – March 8, 2016 – Pilar García Sánchez, Linguistic Services Manager, has worked for Medtronic at the company’s Bakken Research Center in The Netherlands for seven years. For her, job satisfaction begins and ends with people. “We talk all the time about how much we value our customers, and the patients we have the privilege to help each day,” she explains. “But it’s also about the people we work with every day, and the opportunities we have to be our best as individuals.”

Those opportunities — along with statistics that show companies with more women at the leadership level outperform those without1 — are at the core of a vision Medtronic chairman and CEO Omar Ishrak has for the company. “When half the global population is women, and we want to lead in a global industry, we must do a better job of representing that demographic in business,” he said in a recent presentation to employees. “Not only will it benefit our customers and their patients, but also the employees of this company who have great potential to help transform healthcare.”

In support of this vision, on March 8, the Medtronic Women’s Network (MWN) — a global employee resource group — marked International Women’s Day with regional events and a 24-hour online dialogue, “Around the Globe for Parity”. The group is made up of more than 6,000 of the company’s employees and spans 40+ countries.

“Omar has set clear goals for the company, which includes a higher percentage of women in leadership positions,” said Kiersten Betzer, Director of Global Market Development for Medtronic Diagnostics and Monitoring, and Operations Leader for Medtronic Women's Network. “It’s up to all of us — especially those in the MWN — to make that vision a reality.”

International Women’s Day has been observed since the early 1900s, and celebrates the social, economic and political achievements of women. It also highlights the struggles women continue to face in most areas of the world. This year’s theme, #PledgeForParity, encourages dialogue about how equality can be achieved, but more important, what concrete action can be taken to move ahead in the effort.

“I’m proud to work for a company that takes gender equality seriously,” García Sánchez said. “It’s important to talk about the issues, but even more important to do something about them.”